Cheap NHL 15 Coins Online Sale - Why EA Sports NHL 15 Feels So Less-than in Comparison To the Publishers Other Annual Sports Sims

NHL 15 introduces 12-player collision physics, which means the game calculates nonessential player collisions out of the play or even offscreen. Computer controlled players are now vulnerable to the elements because they're constantly being simulated in real time. This works for and against the general semblance of realism. There's nothing better than seeing two players knock into each other, only to open the perfect lane for a fast-break to the net. But there's also a decent amount of goofiness too, where players seem to stumble for no reason. In the end it all makes for a handful of questionable plays -- sequences that would likely merit a penalty call in reality -- but nevertheless go undisciplined.

 

Perhaps that’s why EA Sports’ NHL 15 feels so less-than in comparison to the publisher’s other annual sports sims. It’s a shame, really. The PlayStation 4/Xbox One version of the game - the first to be built using EA’s current-gen technology - is the strongest the series has been in years in terms of presentation and raw playability. But the treasure trove of features that defines so many EA Sports titles is dialed down here, to the point that NHL 15 might as well be a reboot.

 

That just doesn’t happen with sports sims. There’s an additive process with these annual releases, a piling on of modes that very much embraces the “bigger, better, more badass” notion of sequel design. Look at the version of NHL 15 released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and you can see what might have been. Sure, the last-gen edition is little more than a re-skin of NHL 14 with a roster update, but it’s still got features like the GM Connected online franchise mode and the league-oriented multiplayer team play of EASHL. Both of those are absent on PS4/XB1, as is the player’s journey-focused RPG mode, Live the Life.

 

The modes you've come to expect in sports games, particularly those from EA, are gone. GM Connected, the equivalent of Madden's Connected Careers mode, is gone. There's no traditional Season Mode. The modes that made the NHL series special are gone, too. The EA Sports Hockey League, a unique take on multiplayer, isn't here. Live the Life, the obligatory role-playing mode found in so many sports games, isn't here, either, and while that mode never appealed to me it had a solid following. Every time I hear of a new video game console, I begin to wonder what type of advancements it’ll allow EA Canada’s NHL development team to make. I kid you not, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Perhaps it’s the Canadian in me, but each and every new iteration of the franchise gets me excited. Say what you will about sports games, and feel free to have your own opinion of them, but there isn’t a series out there that has taken more of my free time than EA Sports’ NHL.

 

NHL 15 has sold about 590,000 copies across 4 platforms. I expected EA and the NHL development team to put at least more of an effort than what they actually put into NHL 15, the first NHL game released on next gen consoles. This is a sad excuse for a hockey simulation. I definitely don’t expect the same quality of game as they put into FIFA 15, which has sold about 10 million copies to date. That aside, I do expect for them to put at least more of an effort than what they put into NHL 15. NHL 15 is a beautiful game, there's no doubting that, but all of that shimmer and style comes at the expense of substance, and that's a huge problem. It's not enough to look wonderful, a sports game has to be fun to play off the ice or field as well, and NHL 15 took everything that made NHL 14 great and axed it. Perhaps the upcoming patches will restore some of the depth, but I'm not sure I'm going to stick around to find out.

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